Thunder Valley marked a big day of racing for the Honda HRC Progressive team, with riders Jett Lawrence and Chance Hymas sweeping the 450MX and 250MX classes, respectively. Hear directly from the winners as they recap their day to the media in Debrief.

450MX

Image: Octopi Media.

Moto one was an intense race for you, Jett, holding off both Aaron Plessinger and your brother Hunter [Lawrence] throughout. What was going through your mind during those intense moments?

Well, I was starting to question whether I was colorblind because I swear when I looked back there was a red bike, and then an orange fender was on the inside of me entering a turn, so I thought I was colorblind at first. But then I saw it was AP, and I think those two had better lines than I did in the first one, and I was struggling with my line choices a lot. When you’re out front, you stick to the lines you know, but when you’re behind, you can move around a lot more and find different lines, especially with these conditions. It was a good battle in that one, and an enjoyable first moto.

You’re well known for managing races and being able to pick up the pace the moment the competition gets close. Was any of that happening in the racing today?

It changes from time to time. When I have a really good flow and I feel like I can pick it up, then I can. It depends a bit on the track. Today, you didn’t want to fully send it because these ruts are so deep that if you try to lean the bike over any more to go faster, it’ll grab the bottom of the fork lug and pitch you up. So you need to be patient, but then once AP got around me, I had to send it a bit, which was probably the squirliest I’d been all day. It’s a tricky position to be in on this track with how the lines form up, so it depends on the track.

How does your style translate to the speed you carry? Because the revs almost sound slow, and the technique is so fluid. How is it so fast?

Everybody rides how they feel most comfortable. That’s how I feel most comfortable. If I need to rev it and send it a little more, I can, but I don’t like hearing my bike on the rev limiter much. They like to be ridden in that lower torque range section, and I set my bike up around that. I think I got my style from when I first got on a 250 at 14, because I wasn’t very big to muscle it [around], so I used the torque a lot more, and I think [my style] mainly comes from those days and how I had to adapt.

250MX

Image: Octopi Media.

Chance, that was a great performance from you all weekend long. Both holeshots and led the race from start to finish in both motos – overall, how did it feel to get out front early and maintain that lead, especially with someone like Haiden [Deegan] behind you?

It felt really good! This result finally just came down to me executing the day like that. Haiden was riding really good, and we kind of left everybody else. Fastest qualifier in both sessions, both holeshots, and leading every lap is really hard to do, so it was a special day for sure.

This is the second 250MX overall for you, was there any more pressure with this one, having picked up the first moto win, and then having Haiden there right behind you, which would impact the overall result?

The pressure is always there if you let it be. I knew it was going to be a dogfight the whole day, honestly, but I was just focused today and the week leading in, getting the bike and my body better. I had a lot of confidence coming into this weekend and wasn’t letting doubt enter my mind, I knew that if I came in and executed everything, I could be up front and win. That was the goal for today, and to get that perfect 1-1 day feels really good. The confidence is high right now, but I’m pretty far out of this thing [the championship], and I need to keep this momentum going if I want to be back in it.

This is a big day for Honda as Jett [Lawrence] earned the 1-1 sweep too, so how does it feel to be a part of that for the team? And also, what does this result mean for the rest of the year?

It’s special to contribute to it. I was around when Honda almost won every championship in 2023, and then the team has been really successful this year, too. It’s frustrating at times because I want to contribute too and be a guy who is also bringing wins to the team, so to finally do it in this way is really cool. And then to do it with Jett, he’s one of my best friends, so I’m stoked for him and he is stoked for me, and the whole crew is just amped. It’s a family over there. I wouldn’t be here without all those guys backing me.